Recall Elections vs Regular Elections

Does anyone know if there is a difference in election rules for recall vs regular election? If a regular election allows equal access to association media for campaigning purposes, I would think a recall election would allow the same provisions? The association's attorney will not allow candidacy statements in the ballots for the recall. Homeowners have no idea who they are voting for without statements. A written request was sent to the attorney asking for a membership list, along with the reason for the request and it was denied. Not sure where to go from here. If I file a complaint with the attorney general, it will take too long since the ballots go out on October 6th.

Obviously the BOD is not making it easy for your recall. Did you expect them to agree and help in their own demise?

You need to get the word out about who you are recalling, why you are recalling them, who their replacements will be, and what their replacements bring to the table. The ballot aside, you need to distribute a position paper, election flyer, whatever you want to call it to get the information out to the voters before they receive their ballots.

If no one will give you the official mailing list then make one up. A letter, brochure, whatever with big lettering on it with the association name and the word election. Mail it to Fellow Resident at so and so address. Make up your own mail list.

Did you think a recall was going to be easy.

First, I cannot comprehend how the HOA attorney can approve or deny any requests. The attorney has NO such authority. S/he can only present opinions--in writing. Only the board may approve/deny your requests. They've somehow intimidated the attorney to take the heat so that the Board doesn't look slimy.

As you seem to know, Irene, per the Davis-Stirling Act, membership addresses must be given to any owner who requests them so long as their purpose is legitimate. Campaign letters are legit. Was the attorney's negative opinion in writing? What was her/his reasoning?

John46 observes that the Board is making it hard for you to conduct this recall, but the Board is acting illegally by withholding the mbrshp. list. The attorney is behaving unethically. The attorney certainly should not advise the board to do something that's illegal.

Davis-Stirling does permit equal access to association media & resources. If the current board is not spending money on campaign letters/candidate statements, the opposing slate needs to spend its own money. We did that in our HOA to throw out a lousy Board. We sent out a nice joint letter with our (3) pics and our joint goals for our HOA. We also pointed out that although we three had a shared vision, we also were independent thinkers. We also noted our considerable HOA committee experience. We had no negative remarks against those seeking re-election. We won.

You also can post notices on common area bulletin boards, go door to door, etc. Make sure, though, that you may slip flyers under doors per your CC&Rs or Rules & Regs. In addition, you can invite owners to a Candidates Forum in your HOA common area if you have one. Otherwise, perhaps you can hold it in a sympathizer's or candidate's living room.

Do you personally know many of the owners, Irene? What % of your HOA do you think is tenant occupied? what size is your HOA? Your Board?

If you have a lot of tenants and/or owners who are rarely on the premises because it's a vacay home, it's crucial to have their mailing addresses. You'd need to go to the your county's hall of records & look 'em up. Time consuming, but faster than trying to get the AG to act!

If you haven't already, go to davis-stirling.com for more about elections. Procedure-wise cumulative voting may be an issue as Richard points out. First, though, get exposure for your candidates! When they prevail, fire that attorney!

Well, though the attorney answers to the board, and the board hires the attorney, s/he is your HOA's attorney, not "the board's attorney."

What reason was given to deny addresses of members?

What reason was given for not permitting the other candidates to have their statements go out at HOA expense.

What a mess! Is there anything in your MC's contract that says they must follow CA laws and your governing docs? Your MC may be breaching hier professional code of ethics as well as CA civil code by refusing to give you the address list

Meantime, a bunch of you should go to the county recorder's office and get the mailing addresses. It was a problem for us too as we were about 43% tenant occupied at the time that we got the awful board voted out.

But our PM complied with Davis-Stirling and gave us the address list. Are you sure the so-called attorney is a real one? Have you looked up the law firm online? If some other kind of attorney, s/he might not know Davis-Stirling. But I don't think ignorance can prevent this attorney from being disbarred.

As I said previously--the attorney may NOT deny the requests. Only the board can make those decisions!! The attorney can only recommend, opine, advise. Unless you're in receivership, or something else weird is going on, your attorney does NOT DECIDE. Obviously, your board doesn't want to go on record denying the request, irene.

Thank you for the advice. At least I may have a starting point with the tax records, even if they are outdated. I have lived there for over 15 years so I have a very general idea of who is a owner vs tenant. Maybe neighbors can help piece things together. We just need to start asap. When I say it's a mess, I really mean it's a mess! Unfortunately, in California they will allow ANYONE to practice law. It's not easy to get an attorney disciplined. The association's attorney is a 4 time convicted felon who got his bar back because he did not commit a "crime of moral turpitude". Apparently, the CA State Bar thinks it's OK to traffic 60lbs of marijuana and over $100K in cash from the proceeds through Fedex across state lines. Our "attorney" just got out of prison and is currently on parole. Prior to his incarceration, he was a DUI attorney. I looked him up on the State Bar Website and the whole thing is published there. I think you can see why this board must go! Every day they are a huge liability by their decisions and denials. I honestly didn't think it could get this bad but it can!

Another good reason to recall the board, Irene. They hired the attorney. You're ALL paying an attorney who doesn't even specialize in CA HOA law!!

Yes, even if the tax records are out of date, in an HOA of your large size, you should be able to collect enough addresses.

Meantime, Richard of CA really may be able to help you. He, for instance, might be able to address the issue of your PM's failure to provide the address list to you, along with other topics.